I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

Meng Yanzhen entered the palace suddenly, and the Zhao family sent people to ask the Duke of Li’s Mansion, but they were met with a cold shoulder.

In the past, the Zhao family and the Duke of Li's Mansion had always been close relatives and good friends. This sudden change made Zhao Minshan and the first lady confused.

Next came the coming-of-age party for the second daughter of the Meng family. The eldest lady still brought her daughter with her. However, due to the sudden change in attitude of the Duke Li's Mansion, the daughter did not dress as formally as when she attended Meng Yanzhen's coming-of-age party.

Zhao Fangyu liked plain colors, so he was not uncomfortable with it. There were few light-colored materials on Zhao Fangjin's body, so he temporarily found a few pieces from the eldest lady's warehouse and gave Fangyu a batch of light red and Fangwei a piece of pearl white.

Zhao Fangyu matched herself with light yellow and made a butterfly-flowered folded skirt and a long jacket with light red lace.

The long jacket was made of Zhao Fangjin with cloud-blue lace, and the skirt was embroidered with plum blossoms around a tree.

Zhao Fangjin was holding her breath. It was already uncomfortable that Meng Yan really wanted to enter the palace early, and the Duke of Li's Mansion suddenly turned against her. Even the invitation she sent was rejected. For a moment, Zhao Fangjin could not bear it.

But Meng Yunxiang, the culprit who pushed Zhao Fangyu into the water, showed up, and both of them were angry.

"Is your dress ready? Take it out and try it on. I brought some jewelry with me in case you don't have any to go with it."

Zhao Fangyu took Zhao Fangjin by the window and sat on the couch. He made tea for Zhao Fangjin. Seeing Zhao Fangjin fanning himself, he smiled softly and said, "Die Cui, go buy a bowl of iced meatballs for big sister. And while you're at it, see what you guys want to eat and buy some for us."

Diecui responded yes and asked Xunyue, Chunshao and several other maids one by one.

Zhao Fangjin was originally upset, but when she saw Zhao Fangyu's calm demeanor, she realized that he was only three or four years younger than her, so how could he look so mature?

"How are you feeling? Did you enjoy the bird's nest your mother gave you?"

Zhao Fangyu has been recuperating. His body is his own, and there is no harm in recuperating. But I don't know if it's because of the previous fall into the water or something else, but the recovery is very slow.

"I am taking care of him, but he is growing slowly. I am taking medicine and bird's nests. The court doctor prescribed a recipe for medicinal food, but it makes my mouth bitter every day."

Zhao Fangjin pursed his lips and smiled: "Let's see if you dare to study hard next time. How can you be like this? Even those who took the imperial examinations didn't study as hard as you."

Zhao Fangjin always felt that his elder and second brothers had worked hard in their studies, but as a result, his elder and second brothers were in good health, while Zhao Fangyu, a young child, was in poor health at a young age.

"It can't be that fast. It's only been a few days."

Jiaolu is close to the lake and the humidity is quite high. There are many dehumidifying herbs in the medicinal food, and Zhao Fangyu's scalp felt numb after eating them.

"Speaking of which, Sister Yan Zhen hasn't written to me yet?"

Zhao Fangyu was puzzled and said, "According to Sister Yanzhen's personality, she shouldn't refuse. I'm afraid something has delayed her."

Meng Yanzhen and Zhao Fangjin were as close as real sisters. It's not like their feelings would suddenly get hurt to the point of never seeing each other again. Even if there was, it would probably be the younger girl who was upset.

Zhao Fangjin thought the same thing. He held his chin up and said worriedly, "I also know that the reply to me was not written by Sister Yan Zhen at all. It also smells like spice. It's most likely that it was written by Meng Er!"

Zhao Fangyu was allergic to the name Meng Er and his hair would stand on end whenever he heard someone mention it.

Zhao Fangjin held his chin up and continued, "Sister Yan Zhen is going to enter the palace. No one will suppress her in the future. Isn't she going to be the king? If you weigh her, she is nothing. It's because Sister Yan Zhen can't take care of her now, otherwise how could she have a grand coming-of-age banquet?"

Zhao Fangyu was puzzled. Even if Meng Yanzhen entered the palace, how could the Duke of Li's Mansion allow a bastard Meng Yunxiang to represent the Meng family and enter the aristocratic social circle?

Zhao Fangyu asked whatever came to his mind, but Zhao Fangjin sneered, his irony was self-evident: "It's because there's an old lady in the Duke of Li's mansion who's so drunk that she secretly recorded Meng Yunxiang in the family tree in the ancestral hall of her hometown, and even recorded her under my aunt's name!"

Oh my god! What kind of farce is this? The mother-in-law secretly registered the concubine's daughter under the name of the legitimate mother without telling her daughter-in-law...

"Then my aunt is now..."

Meng Yunxiang is Meng Yunqiao's full sister, but in the past Meng Yunxiang always disliked Meng Yunqiao for being stupid and refused to get along with her. She didn't expect that this time she would be expelled back to her hometown and still cause such trouble.

Without telling her parents in the capital, she secretly bewitched the old lady and asked her to register her under the name of the mistress of the Duke of Li’s household… She abandoned her aunt and sister who gave birth to her and raised her, and now she is completely going against the eldest lady of the Duke of Li’s mansion?

Zhao Fangyu had not met Meng Yunxiang many times, but he was shocked by her behavior.

"At her coming-of-age party, be careful about what you eat and drink. She was driven back to her hometown because she plotted against you and framed you. I think she must be holding a grudge against you."

Zhao Fangjin was not worried about himself: "Meng Yunxiang is a person who knows the current situation very well. When you are in her favor, she will do her best to please you. Being humble is just her daily routine. Once she catches you, she will immediately add insult to injury and even want to smash you to death."

"Like a venomous snake, weak and boneless, yet the most vicious."

Zhao Fangyu nodded, thinking that it was indeed the eldest lady of the Duke of Li’s Mansion.

"Auntie, are you going to just put up with this?"

Zhao Fangjin shook his head: "Wait a minute, she thinks that she has been trying to please her aunt for more than ten years, and now she has become the legitimate daughter with the help of the old lady, and she still has the affection she showed to her in the past. How can her aunt be a soft-hearted person?"

"Some of them she suffered."

"She is not upright and has done many unjust things. You don't have to pity her. How many illegitimate daughters of the Duke of Li's mansion have not been tortured by her? It's like cutting meat with a blunt knife. Even your good friend Meng Yunqiao is a fool who only remembers to eat but not to be beaten."

Zhao Fangyu touched the teacup in his hand, his eyes slightly moved: "How can I pity her? Five out of ten of my shortcomings should be blamed on her."

"I'm just worried whether Sister Yanzhen will be sad. After all, she is my grandmother."

Zhao Fangjin waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about that. Why do you think she lives alone in her hometown?"

There were some things Zhao Fangjin was reluctant to say, but with just one look, Zhao Fangyu understood immediately.

Zhao Fangjin forcibly borrowed a box of small hairpins from Zhao Fangyu. He had only one request for Zhao Fangyu, which was that they must be naturally beautiful and unpretentious, and it would be best if they could make a perfect appearance by simply exerting some force and pinning Meng Yunxiang to the ground.

·

Duke Li's Mansion

Li Shumin hugged Meng Yanzhen, who was crying silently, with tears on her face: "My son, how can I ask you to..." to marry the emperor?

The emperor of this dynasty is nearly forty years old.

Old enough to be Meng Yanzhen’s father!

"Mother has already begged for me. It is I who want to enter the palace. The eldest prince doesn't like me, and I can't bring shame to the Meng family and tarnish the reputation of the Duke of Li's Mansion."

"If he doesn't want me, there will be someone better than him who will want me."

The words sounded cold, but Meng Yanzhen's face was also haggard.